Intro

Running UA on AppLovin in 2025? Don’t waste another dollar until you hear this.

In this episode, we sit down with Alexis Lejeune (ex-AppLovin, now UA advisor) to dive deep into how AppLovin’s UA stack really works — including how to scale, when to use D28 ROAS, how to test creatives, and how Axon 2 finds your payers before you do.

What we cover:

Axon 2: How AppLovin’s black box blends mediation + advertiser data

D0 vs. D7 vs. D28: Which ROAS model works best and when

Why $500 budgets won’t calibrate for IAP games

Campaign caps, crashes, and recovery strategies

Why campaign goals should be set per geo & not touched every 2 days

Why playables matter more than ever and how they qualify users

How to refresh creatives based on spend volume (5–10/week at $10K/day)

Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop

--------------------------------------

PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.

Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/

They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.

- Scale fast

- Keep your shares

- Drawdown only as needed

- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you

+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors

---------------------------------------

Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.

https://www.vibe.co/

---------------------------------------

For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.

Our sponsor FastSpring:

Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 years

They power top mobile publishers around the world

Launch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.

---------------------------------------

This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Special guest: Alexis Lejeune

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-lejeune/

Youtube: https://youtu.be/V3TJwkPBXOM

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

05:03 Alexis Lejeune's Journey in Gaming

07:45 Understanding Applovin and Its Reputation

11:28 Exploring Axon 2 and Its Functionality

14:17 Campaign Strategies: D0, D7, and D28 Models

22:43 Common Mistakes in User Acquisition

27:22 Optimizing Campaigns on Applovin

32:40 Data-Driven Campaign Strategies

34:50 The Importance of Playable Ads

38:09 Creative Optimization and User Engagement

39:51 Creative Refresh Strategies

44:45 Aplovin and TikTok: A Strategic Merge

47:12 Facebook's Advertising Ambitions

48:03 Maximizing ECPMs for Publishers

54:51 Ad Formats: Length and User Experience

56:34 Banner Refresh Rates and Optimization

---------------------------------------

Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

---------------------------------------

Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!

Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!

Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me